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It’s very easy to forget how annoying Visas can be, if you are from a privileged country. I’m a German married to a South African, but before that we were long-

It’s very easy to forget how annoying Visas can be, if you are from a privileged country. I’m a German married to a South African, but before that we were long-distance dating. Me visiting her was effortless. Fly there, stand in line, get my stamps, done. Her visiting Germany? A lot of paperwork and appointments in both countries and usually paying for a 36h document courier to get her all the documents in time because it always takes longer than expected … And that’s not even talking about them marriage itself as SA is not one of those countries where you can (ab)use easy Danish marriages because she then would have to fly back to SA as she’s not allowed to change visas while not in her home country.

thaumasiotes 3y ago
> And that’s not even talking about them marriage itself as SA is not one of those countries where you can (ab)use easy Danish marriages What is this about? I'm not sure whatever phenomena you're referring to are well known outside of Germany.
- bombcar 3y ago
  Some countries don’t let you “change visa” without returning home. So if you’re in Germany on a tourist or student visa, and decide to get married, you have to fly home and apply for a marriage visa or whatever it is. Other countries let you basically “update the visa online” or at the embassy.
  - Semaphor 3y ago
    Pretty much this, some countries are allowed to change visas while in Germany, so you can get married in Denmark, which is an easy affair and doesn’t take much. Then you go to Germany, and the marriage is accepted there, and you can now change it to a spousal visa. Instead, she had to swear 3 times (twice in writing, once in person at the civil registry) that she’s not married either ritually, customary, or by law. Among other fun documents we needed.
    - hsjqllzlfkf 3y ago
      What's the significance of Denmark in this context? Why not just get married in Germany?
      - jlokier 3y ago
        They have to apply for a visa/license to marry, which can be denied or take a long time or require whatever documents the authorities want, and I have the impression it requires them to leave the country too, before they are able to get married in Germany, but if they can travel and get married in Denmark without such difficulties then Germany automatically accepts the marriage. Many countries don't allow non-citizens to marry citizens without an onerous administrative obstacle and/or a long time delay, and possible refusal. Unlike business travel visas, in some countries lack of formal permission prevents a marriage from having legal marriage status, so it's not like you can just quietly ignore the requirement. Occasionally two people who want to marry can't do so by any route in either of their home counties.
        Semaphor 3y ago
        It’s less the denial, time it takes, it’s more that Germany requires a lot more documents. My favorite is still "Befreiung von der Beibringung des Ehefähigkeitszeugnisses" (Exemption from providing the certificate of marriageability) just because it’s such a mouthful and sounds crazy ;) We could have gotten married with her here on a normal tourist visa, that wouldn’t have been an issue. But we didn’t want her to have to go back to change visas afterward, so we got married with a marriage visa (which converts to a spousal visa automatically)
      - Semaphor 3y ago
        As I wrote: > so you can get married in Denmark, which is an easy affair and doesn’t take much Denmark has next to no requirements for the marriage, they even advertise easy marriages. Germany has … a lot ;)

thaumasiotes 3y ago

> And that’s not even talking about them marriage itself as SA is not one of those countries where you can (ab)use easy Danish marriages What is this about? I'm not sure whatever phenomena you're referring to are well known outside of Germany.

bombcar 3y ago
Some countries don’t let you “change visa” without returning home. So if you’re in Germany on a tourist or student visa, and decide to get married, you have to fly home and apply for a marriage visa or whatever it is. Other countries let you basically “update the visa online” or at the embassy.
- Semaphor 3y ago
  Pretty much this, some countries are allowed to change visas while in Germany, so you can get married in Denmark, which is an easy affair and doesn’t take much. Then you go to Germany, and the marriage is accepted there, and you can now change it to a spousal visa. Instead, she had to swear 3 times (twice in writing, once in person at the civil registry) that she’s not married either ritually, customary, or by law. Among other fun documents we needed.
  - hsjqllzlfkf 3y ago
    What's the significance of Denmark in this context? Why not just get married in Germany?
    - jlokier 3y ago
      They have to apply for a visa/license to marry, which can be denied or take a long time or require whatever documents the authorities want, and I have the impression it requires them to leave the country too, before they are able to get married in Germany, but if they can travel and get married in Denmark without such difficulties then Germany automatically accepts the marriage. Many countries don't allow non-citizens to marry citizens without an onerous administrative obstacle and/or a long time delay, and possible refusal. Unlike business travel visas, in some countries lack of formal permission prevents a marriage from having legal marriage status, so it's not like you can just quietly ignore the requirement. Occasionally two people who want to marry can't do so by any route in either of their home counties.
      - Semaphor 3y ago
        It’s less the denial, time it takes, it’s more that Germany requires a lot more documents. My favorite is still "Befreiung von der Beibringung des Ehefähigkeitszeugnisses" (Exemption from providing the certificate of marriageability) just because it’s such a mouthful and sounds crazy ;) We could have gotten married with her here on a normal tourist visa, that wouldn’t have been an issue. But we didn’t want her to have to go back to change visas afterward, so we got married with a marriage visa (which converts to a spousal visa automatically)
    - Semaphor 3y ago
      As I wrote: > so you can get married in Denmark, which is an easy affair and doesn’t take much Denmark has next to no requirements for the marriage, they even advertise easy marriages. Germany has … a lot ;)